‘Hindutva’ mob harasses Maktoob reporter with Islamophobic slurs at Delhi protest
A group of men identifying themselves as journalists and wearing press cards surrounded and verbally harassed Maktoob reporter Fida Fathima during Sunday's anti-SIR protest in Delhi, directing Islamophobic slurs at her, including “Topi Media”.
Independent journalist and regular Maktoob contributor Aktarista Ansari and Nada Saeeda, an editorial intern at the outlet, were with Fida when the group confronted them, Maktoob Media reported on Sunday.
The men repeatedly shouted at Fida and the other reporters, accusing them of insulting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Modi ji ko gaali de rahi hain ye log” (These people are abusing Modi), one of the men shouted.
Fida challenged the group, asking whether they belonged to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and called on them to produce their press identity cards.
The men declined to show their identification and continued verbally abusing Fida and her colleagues.
Fida also urged them to “stop communalism”, pushing back against their Islamophobic remarks and attempts to intimidate the journalists.
The incident comes amid allegations of harassment and intimidation targeting journalists covering protests in Delhi against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Meanwhile, reporter of The Independent Alisha Rahaman Sarkar described the police crackdown on journalists covering protests in New Delhi on 10 October as unlike anything she had witnessed during nearly a decade of reporting in India, warning that it sets a “dangerous precedent” for press freedom.
Indian television news channels portrayed protests in Delhi as a security threat and a failed political mobilisation, largely overlooking the detention of journalists covering the demonstrations.
Reporters from independent newsrooms alleged that police had tightened restrictions on their access to protest sites in Central Delhi, despite allowing television crews to cover events around Jantar Mantar.